We slept until 10, had a lazy breakfast at the hotel hotel. Made it to the train station at noon. Took train to Chatelet Les Halles station, which lets out at an underground mall in the center of the city. In this mall, as with many places in Europe, you must pay to use the toilets. In this case there is a man with remote control opening and shutting doors after you pay him. At least when the restrooms must be paid for, they are typically clean!
The center of the mall opens up to the sky, it was pretty neat! When you come up to street level, you see these terrific gardens and a huge cathedral (St Eustache) at one end.
This park has a couple of play grounds tucked in. I let my kids play in one for about an hour while Megan browsed around. There was a huge sand box, water fountain, play equipment, etc. It was really cool watching these 4-6 year olds try to play together and realizing they had no clue how to communicate with words.
After this we started walking Paris ...mmmm banana crepes. We walked around chappel of saints, house of justice, Notre Dame ...mmm ice cream/gelatos.
We noticed an area called the Beach, down by the river. Evidently the city wanted to give people a reason to stay in the city on the weekends rather than going to a real beach. They trucked in tons of sand, and set up free umbrellas and reclined chairs. You could bring your own towel if you wish, or just sit in the sand. There were even shower stations to clean off!
What a great use of the waterfront! There were so many people walking up and down it. There was garden area, that many people took advantage of the misters to cool off.
For the pre-teens, there was this great obstacle course...all this for free. They had ballroom dance lessons (once again, outdoor dance floor), food vendors, street performers, and more.
We made our way down the river to the Louvre court. When we walked in I could here this opera singer and was just overwhelmed. I felt shivers and my eyes welling up, just giddy, very similar to my friend Christine one time at the Toledo Museum. We saw the glass pyramid, reflection ponds, the arch out front, but we were in no shape to go inside today. So we walked back toward Le Halles.
On the way I noticed a metro entrance that the one in front of the Toledo Museum must be modeled after! What serendipity!
One thing that really stood out about this city, is the great mixture of transportation. The trains and buses were excellent, but you also saw cars, scooters, bycycles, and plenty of walkers.
We ate Chinese for dinner, train ride back to bus station, bus ride back to hotel. What a long but terrific day. In the train station, my son tried to befriend a boy with a couple of french words he picked up, and the boy didn't understand. His mother came over and told me in English that the boy didn't speek a word of French (or Enlglish), only Hebrew. Never know what you'll find!
